Lindsey Apple - The Family Legacy of Henry Clay: In the Shadow of a Kentucky Patriarch

THE FAMILY LEGACY OF HENRY CLAY

Topics in Kentucky History

James C. Klotter, SERIES EDITOR

Books in the Series

The Family Legacy of Henry Clay: In the Shadow of a Kentucky Patriarch

Lindsey Apple

A History of Education in Kentucky

William E. Ellis

Madeline McDowell Breckinridge and the Battle for a New South

Melba Porter Hay

Henry Watterson and the New South: The Politics of

Empire, Free Trade, and Globalization

Daniel S. Margolies

Murder and Madness: The Myth of the Kentucky Tragedy

Matthew G. Schoenbachler

How Kentucky Became Southern: A Tale of Outlaws,

Horse Thieves, Gamblers, and Breeders

Maryjean Wall

In the Shadow of a Kentucky Patriarch

Lindsey Apple

Copyright 2011 by The University Press of Kentucky

Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre
College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College,
Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University,
Morehead State University, Murray State University,
Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University of Kentucky, University of Louisville,
and Western Kentucky University.

All rights reserved.

Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Apple, Lindsey.

The family legacy of Henry Clay : in the shadow of a Kentucky patriarch / Lindsey Apple.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8131-3410-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN 978-0-8131-3411-6 (ebook)

1. Clay, Henry, 17771852. 2. Clay, Henry, 17771852Family. 3. Clay family. 4. Clay, Henry, 17771852Influence. 5. KentuckyBiography. 6. StatesmenUnited StatesBiography. 7. LegislatorsUnited StatesBiography. 8. United States. Congress. SenateBiography. I. Title.

E340.C6A67 2011

328.092dc23

[B]

2011019756

This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Member of the Association of American University Presses

For Brian, Elizabeth, Andrew, and Gabrielle

Alice Dudley McDowell: 19131985, sixth generation; Henry Clay Jr. branch; became a professional dancer and created her own dance company. As a child, she added excitement to Ashland.

Anne Brown Clay Erwin: 18071835, second generation; married James Erwin; bright, charming, much like her father.

Anne Clay McDowell: 18371917, third generation; Henry Clay Jr. branch; married H. C. McDowell and returned to Ashland, making her family the third Clay family to live there. Died of tuberculosis.

Anne Clay McDowell Stucky: 18911966, fifth generation; favorite of her grandmother, for whom she was named.

Annie Green Clay Gibson: fourth generation; Thomas H. Clay branch; remained in Pennsylvania when her family moved back to Kentucky, but helped Glyndon Van Deusen and other historians. As a young girl, she kept scrapbooks about the family and about European nobility.

Charles Donald Clay Sr.: 18571935, third generation; James Clay branch; retired colonel, served in three wars; held very traditional values that restricted his children.

Charles (Charley) Donald Clay Jr.: 18991922, fourth generation; James Clay branch; the epitome of Clay honor, expelled from West Point; committed suicide or was murdered at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

Charles Edward Erwin: 18351860, third generation; Erwin branch; impulsive, a spendthrift; died young of tuberculosis.

Eliza (Elizabeth Hart) Clay: 18131825, second generation; died in Lebanon, Ohio, on the way to Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Clay Blanford: 19041999, fourth generation; James Clay branch; epitomized the genteel values expected of a Clay woman late into the twentieth century; recorded aspects of the family history in short character sketches.

Eugene Erwin: 18301863, third generation; Erwin branch; capable and courageous; Confederate officer; died at Vicksburg.

Eugenia Erwin: 18641864, fourth generation; Erwin branch; posthumous child of Eugene; died as an infant, probably as a result of the stress of the Civil War on her mother.

George Hudson Clay: 18581934, third generation; James Clay branch; melancholy and impulsive, excellent breeder of horses, joked about family heritage.

Goodloe McDowell: 18951974, fifth generation; Henry Clay Jr. branch; veteran of World War I, sold the McDowell stable of horses, ran the Phoenix Hotel in Lexington.

Harry (Henry) Boyle Clay: 18401919, third generation; Thomas H. Clay branch; Confederate officer; married and moved to Rogersville, Tennessee.

Harry Boyle Clay Jr.: 18641917, fourth generation; Thomas H. Clay branch; in business with his father; died of tuberculosis.

Harry (Henry) Independence Clay: 18491884, third generation; James Clay branch; compared favorably to Henry Clay; Arctic explorer, Louisville politician; murdered by a Louisville saloon keeper.

Henrietta Clay: 18001801; first child of the Clays, she died as an infant.

Henrietta Clay: d. 1975, fourth generation; Thomas H. Clay branch; business woman, left papers to Transylvania University.

Henry Clay: 17771852; patriarch.

Henry Clay Jr.: 18111847, second generation; lawyer, politician; died in the Mexican War.

Henry (Hart) Clay III: 18331862, third generation; Henry Clay Jr. branch; intelligent, energetic, but ill-disciplined, he was expelled from West Point. Died of disease as a Union officer during the Civil War.

Henry Clay Anderson: 18911959, fifth generation; Erwin branch; professor of physics at Western Kentucky University; considered a black sheep in the family.

Henry Clay Duralde: 18241850, third generation; Duralde branch; charming, gregarious, but reckless and prone to bad habits, his grandmother Lucretia banned him from Ashland. He died in a swimming accident.

Henry Clay Erwin: 18271859, third generation; Erwin branch; intelligent but impulsive, drank heavily; died young of tuberculosis.

Henry Clay List: 1950, seventh generation; Erwin branch; served in Kentucky state legislature, businessman.

Henry Clay McDowell Sr.: 18321899, third generation; married to Anne Clay of Henry Clay Jr. branch; successful businessman and breeder of horses.